On March 27, 1950, Geisha dropped a dark grey colt; unknowingly, she had dropped a champion.
Geisha herself was, although registered as a roan, a grey horse. She undoubtedly passed this on to her son. Her grandsire was the famous Fair Play, sire of the great Man O' War.
The colt's sire, Polynesian, was a brown horse. He won the Preakness Stakes, and his lines traced back to such horses as Sun Briar, Cleopatra and Rock Sand. He died at age seventeen from colic with a record of 58 starts, 27 wins, 10 places, and 10 shows. Other than siring Native Dancer, Polynesian also sired Barbizon and Imbros.
And so, this grey colt out of Geisha had pretty good lines to begin with--and became part of another line of champion Thoroughbreds.
The colt was owned and bred by Alfred G. Vanderbilt. At age two, he was trained by Bill Winfrey and ridden by Eric Guerin. He won his first race hands down. He finished off his two-year-old career with nine starts and nine wins, each of them having been won with a come-from-behind drive to the finish.
In 1953, Native Dancer won the Gotham Mile and Wood Memorial, two races leading up to the prestigious Derby. Everyone figured on Native Dancer winning--but could not have been more surprised. The horse fouled twice in the race, and recovered to barely lose to Dark Star.
Although this unfortunate mishap, Native Dancer did not lose his winning ways. After the Derby, he charged across the finish lines of the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes to accomplish a feat only equaled by Man O' War.
In 1954, Native Dancer won all three of his scheduled races. He then made a trip to France, in high hopes of winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Fans all over were disappointed, however, when a foot injury pushed on his retirement.
And so the great horse was retired, with a record of 22: 21-1-0, and $785,240 as a credit to his name. He sired many a champion, and many of these champions are still being born today through his great-great-great granddaughters and so on. Such horses as Kauai King, Raise a Native, Northern Dancer, Ruffian, and Barbaro can trace lines back to this famous racehorse and sire.
And so it was, that Native Dancer helped to build champions in racehorse history.
He died at age 17 on November 16, 1967, and was buried at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland.
So long to a fantastic champion.
Native Dancer is ranked #7 in the Bloodhorse Magazine List of the Top 100 Horses of the U.S. Century.
